Australian Racing: Elouyou eyeing Sandown success

There’s plenty of racing action for punters to get stuck into on Saturday, including at Doomben, where the Group 1 Doomben Cup is the feature.

Race 8 Doomben

Pride Of Jenni @ 3.60 

Race 8 Randwick

Nellie Leylax @ 41.00

Race 8 Sandown

Elouyou @ 3.50

Pride Of Jenni for Cup success

The previously mentioned Group 1 Doomben Cup is the feature race on a nine-race card at Doomben.

A soft 5 track is expected for the 2000m contest, which comes up as the penultimate race of the day.

Tony Gollan’s Antino is expected to feature prominently in the betting, having registered a victory in an 1800m Group 2 contest at Gold Coast last time.

The six-year-old came home three-and-a-half-lengths clear of his rivals when contesting the A.D. Hollindale Stakes on that occasion.

Blake Shinn, on board when the pair raced on a heavy track that day, is again booked to ride, with his mount chasing his second Group 1 success of the season.

The Redwood gelding’s previous top level success this campaign came by six-and-a-half-lengths in the 2000m Toorak Handicap at Caulfield in October.

PRIDE OF JENNI is preferred on this occasion however, with the mare chasing her 11th win in 39 career starts.

The daughter of Pride Of Dubai is a dual winner from three starts this prep, with her sole defeat coming when ninth in Flemington’s Group 1 Australian Cup over 2000m at the end of March.

Pride Of Jenni backed that effort up with an impressive success in the Listed Tile Importer Anniversary Vase over 1600m at Caulfield earlier this month.

Trained by Ciaron Maher, the mare is a regular in Group 1 races and she is chasing her first top level win since her memorable win in last season’s Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

Craig Newitt, on board for each of her last three starts, is again set to ride and his mount looks up to saluting from barrier one.

Nellie Leylax to return with win

There’s 10 races programmed for Randwick with the eighth race of the day a Benchmark 94 handicap.

Testing conditions are expected with a heavy 9 surface forecast and proven wet track performer Cool Jakey expected to jump as favourite.

The five-year-old took his record on heavy going to four wins from seven starts when saluting by a narrow margin in a 1400m Benchmark 88 event at Hawkesbury.

That marked the gelding’s first start on a heavy surface this prep with the son of Pierro registering his second win of the year having scored at Warwick Farm in March.

While Joe Pride’s representative rates a worthy favourite in this field, the ex-UK-trained NELLIE LEYLAX is the pick.

The four-year-old hasn’t shone in his four barrier trials since joining the Annabel & Rob Archibald stable.

This gelding’s best effort in those four trial outings came when sixth over 1200m at Warwick Farm at the start of January.

However, he is best judged on the form he showed on the track in the UK where he demonstrated progressive form, including when winning both starts in 2024.

Both of those wins came over 1609m at Haydock, including by one-and-a-half-lengths in the valuable Silver Bowl Handicap just under a year ago.

Chad Schofield is set to partner the gelding on his Australian debut, with his mount taken to spring a surprise.

Elouyou to complete hat-trick

They are set to race on the Hillside track at Sandown with a nine-race card set to take place on a good 4 track.

The penultimate event is a 1400m Benchmark 100 handicap with Scott Cameron’s ELOUYOU taking the eye here.

The son of So You Think showed good form in 2024, including when finishing runner-up in a 1300m event at this track just over a year ago.

While the gelding failed to shine over 1200m at Flemington first up this time around, he has won both subsequent starts.

Those two victories have both come over 1200m on wet tracks at Moonee Valley, with the first of those seeing the pick salute at $12 in an 11-runner event.

The five-year-old went on to follow up by nearly three lengths when starting as favourite for a small field Benchmark 84 handicap just under a month ago.

Fred Kersley, on board for both of those wins, is again set to ride here and his mount looks up to continuing his winning run racing off a low weight in this event.